Humphrey’s owners buy four corners at 15th, Ash

KATHRYN REM

Sunday

Jun 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2008 at 12:08 PM

The owners of Humphrey’s Market — a business anchor on South 15th Street for decades — were annoyed by troublesome activity at 15th and Ash streets, less than a block from their grocery store. So they bought all four corners of the intersection and are working to transform the buildings into neighborhood assets.

The owners of Humphrey’s Market — a business anchor on South 15th Street for decades — were annoyed by troublesome activity at 15th and Ash streets, less than a block from their grocery store. So they bought all four corners of the intersection and are working to transform the buildings into neighborhood assets.

“This is my home. I live behind the store. I grew up here. We’re trying to keep this neighborhood safe and productive,” said Henry Humphrey, 73. He runs the market at 1821 S. 15th St. with his wife, Iona, 73, and two of their children, Henry Humphrey Jr., 44, and Hope Humphrey, 37.

Springfield Police Officer Ron Howard said the corner had become a magnet for trouble.

“We had a lot of foot traffic in the area. There was a record shop and a lot of juveniles running back and forth. There were problems with prostitution and traffic,” said Howard, who was assigned to the area and worked closely with the Humphreys.

“Cars were double-parked and it blocked access to the store. A lot of our customers are elderly, and they felt intimidated,” said Henry Jr., who has been the family’s point man on the 15th and Ash projects. “We thought maybe we should invest in the corner and see if we could make a difference.”

Pizzeria & bakery
A shuttered barbershop was turned into a pizza-and-sandwich joint called The Pizzeria in October, and a bakery is on target to open around Sept. 1. The other two corners hold a vacant house and an old Sinclair filling station, and their fates are still up in the air.

Although hesitant to talk about money, Henry Jr. said the family spent $300,000 on The Pizzeria and several hundred thousand dollars more on the other properties.

“Our insurance agent blew a gasket,” said Henry Jr. about the cost of The Pizzeria. “It can’t be insured for that much.” Part of the expense was the purchase of a Chicago pizza restaurant, which supplied the specialized pizza ovens and other equipment for The Pizzeria.

Howard said the paved and well-lit off-street parking lot at The Pizzeria has helped diffuse criminal activity in the area. Also effective have been the police department’s prostitution details, Henry Jr. said.

“The Springfield Police Department has been so responsive,” said Henry Jr., who often calls police when he sees anything questionable happening.

He said the family was swayed to invest, in part, after seeing traffic-count figures for Ash Street.

“It’s a straight thoroughfare from Dirksen to MacArthur with lots of cars,” Henry Jr. said.
City traffic engineer Tyre Rees said Ash Street averages 7,900 vehicles every 24 hours, a volume he called “medium.” By comparison, Wabash Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard see 22,000-23,000 cars each day.

Fifteenth Street north of Ash gets about 1,600 cars each day, while the leg of 15th south of Ash averages 2,250 vehicles in 24 hours, Rees said.

The Humphreys thought the traffic was good enough to open another business across from the pizza restaurant in a building formerly occupied by Watkins Products. The bakery has been dubbed — what else? — The Bakery.

Doughnuts a must

During the early 1990s, the family opened a bakery, called Your Dough Boy, in the strip mall at Monroe Street and Lawrence Avenue. It didn’t last too long, partly because it didn’t offer doughnuts to doughnut-loving Springfieldians.

A lunch specialty will be steamed-meat sandwiches, similar to those sold years ago at The Shack on South Sixth Street.

Like The Pizzeria, The Bakery will have a retro look with black and white floor tiles. The exteriors of all four buildings recently have been painted white to give the corner a unified appearance.

The Humphreys aren’t sure yet what to do with the service station. They have toyed with the idea of transforming it into a road museum, something like Shea’s gas station museum on Peoria Road. But they also are looking into renting it for an auto-related business such as a repair shop.

“The gas tanks were removed in 1989, but the original lift still works. The old lightposts are there and the building has a lot of charm,” said Henry Jr., who remembers as a boy walking the block from his home behind Humphrey’s Market to the station to get gas for his lawn mower. The family is replacing rotted wood in the building and restoring the office area.

The fourth corner at the intersection holds a 11/2 -story house that has been vacant for nearly 30 years. It was still furnished when the Humphreys bought it two years ago.

“It was covered in cobwebs and there were dropcloths in the windows,” Henry Jr. said about the early 1900s three-bedroom house. The Humphreys have painted the interior and made repairs. They are thinking about renting it either as a home or business.

Neighborhood-friendly

“We’re trying to keep the neighborhood intact,” Henry Jr. said. “It used to be that each neighborhood would have a church, a store, a restaurant, a garage, a bakery. That’s gone. You don’t see that. But that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

“We’re putting our money in the future,” added his father, Henry.

City leaders have noticed the family’s investment.

“I’m so appreciative of everything they’re doing,” said Springfield Ald. Gail Simpson, whose Ward 2 includes the area around 15th and Ash streets. “Not one of the places they are fixing up is asking to sell packaged liquor. What they’re doing adds to the character and renewal of the community. It’s more neighborhood-friendly.”

Former Ward 2 Ald. Frank McNeil also lauded the initiative.

“What it does is anchor those corners into something of a neighborhood. We don’t have to go outside our neighborhood for service,” he said.

“They’ve brought retail and jobs to the area. Also, they’ve shown there is no fear of doing business on the east side,” McNeil added.

Humphrey’s Market — which includes an in-house breakfast-and-lunch cafe called The Luncheonette — has 28 employees in addition to the family. The Pizzeria created 10 more jobs, and The Bakery is expected to employ another 10.

Mike Farmer, executive director of the Springfield economic development office, said it’s not unusual for business owners to look beyond their own property.

“If one tenant doesn’t mow the lawn, the guy next door will buy it to protect his property. It’s fairly common for people to protect their investments as well as they can.”

Farmer noted that hospitals and governments often “try to get their arms around a neighborhood,” as do tenants of law offices and physician groups.

Henry Jr. said taking over the corner has achieved the family’s goals.

“We’ve noticed a lot less foot traffic, and it’s quiet after dark. The traffic congestion is gone,” he said.

Other businesses have benefited as well.

“The neighborhood is much cleaner now,” said Dennis Sanderfield, who has owned the Old Luxemburg restaurant at 1900 S. 15th St. since 1993.

“It used to be people would throw their garbage out, kick it and keep going. Now people are taking care of their yards. You clean up a property and then the next guy starts cleaning up his. There’s a huge difference between Henry’s corner and 14th or Renfro (which run parallel to 15th Street). I wish we had a couple more Henrys,” Sanderfield said.

What next on the Humphreys’ do-to list?

“We’ve had lots of people ask if we’d do a west-side location or a downtown location,” said Henry Jr. “It sounds interesting, but we have a lot to get under our belt here on 15th Street.”

Kathryn Rem can be reached at 788-1520.

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